FILE - In this July 25, 2017 file photo, White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci speaks to members of the media at the White House in Washington. Scaramucci is coming under fire for using a quote by former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)

STATE COLLEGE President Donald Trump’s new communications director is getting sacked on social media for quoting Joe Paterno while making a point about honor and dignity.

Anthony Scaramucci mentioned the late Penn State football coach’s oft-cited line “act like you’ve been there before” during a CNN interview Thursday about his push to stop leaks to the press.

Penn State fired Paterno in 2011 over his handling of child sex abuse allegations against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. A university-commissioned investigation concluded Paterno and others hushed up the allegations for fear of bad publicity.

Paterno, one of college football’s winningest coaches, died of lung cancer in January 2012 at 85. He was never charged with a crime.

When Paterno died, Scaramucci tweeted he’d met the coach twice and considered him an “honorable man.”